


Attraction At First Sight

by cribaby



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cute, Fluff and Angst, Free! Eternal Summer, M/M, Suicidal Thoughts, supermarket au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-25
Updated: 2015-08-10
Packaged: 2018-04-11 02:31:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4417580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cribaby/pseuds/cribaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Haru and Rin meet at the supermarket 0.o what will happen ??</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hii! this is my first fic, and i think it's gonna be good! please stick around! xoxo

It was a grey and rainy Saturday afternoon, and Haru was tired after a long week of work. His job as an accountant was boring, and frankly exhausting. As a teen, he'd always avoided thinking about a career, instead focusing on the one thing that had interested him- swimming, and it seemed as though his general neglect in planning for the future had come back to bite him sooner than Haru would've liked.

"At least I can pay the bills." Haru thought as he lazily pushed his shopping cart through a deserted aisle. He often wondered why he kept living, and if he was even really living. Haru knew in his heart he had become a corporate slave, spending his days gruelling in order to make money that he could care less about, but had been forced to need. He had recently begun to fantasize about breaking that horrid cycle, severing the chain, but in order to do that he'd have to find a way to eat and live without money, which seemed nearly if not entirely impossible, without simply ceasing to exist entirely, that is.

As soon as Haru realised he was making the rounds again in this all too familiar thought process, he forced himself to think of other things. 

"What was it again I needed for dinner tonight?" He vaguely wondered, fishing for the shopping list in the back pocket of his jeans. Not looking where he was going, Haru continued to nudge his cart forward when he was stopped by the force of an object in front of him, accompanied by the sound of an abundance of aluminium cans hitting the supermarket's linoleum floor. Haru looked up quickly.

"Shit!" He said aloud. By now practically every shopper in the building was looking Haru's way. While Haru was thankful Saturday was clearly not the supermarket's busy day, he shifted uncomfortably under the gaze of those who happened to be in the store. A few shoppers near him knelt down, beginning to right the display, and Haru quickly followed suite. Soon a supermarket employee rushed to attend to the mess, shooing the shoppers away with a quick smile and a few words of reassurance.

Haru continued to pick up cans, eyes never once leaving the ground in his shame. 

"Hey, go finish your shopping." The employee said, looking at Haru with a smile. Upon being directly addressed, Haru looked up.

"No, it's fine. I caused this mess.." He said breathily, a little taken aback by the sight that had just met his eyes. The man that crouched next to him was not at all like he had imagined. Not that Haru had specifically pictured the supermarket employee helping fix his fuck up, but he hadn't expected anything like this. This person was toned and muscular, he clearly worked out to keep in shape. Haru watched his powerful arms ripple and flex as he struggled to grab a can that had rolled just out of his reach. A shock of maroon colored hair fell down over a pair of red eyes, while the rest of it was pulled back into a messy ponytail. 

The man quickly noticed Haru's intrigued gaze and stopped what he was doing, staring right back, an amused smirk playing on his lips. Haru's eyes widened as they met the man's and he couldn't stop himself from blushing bright red.

"Suit yourself." The man murmured, smirk only growing larger as he watched Haru's blush grow brighter by the moment. 

Just then Haru heard footsteps fast approaching behind the employee. He looked up to see another employee running towards them.

"Rin!" The other man called. "Need any help?" 

Haru quickly realised he was addressing the employee helping him.

"Rin.." Haru said to himself, making a mental note of the stunning man's name. The employee approaching was now upon them. This man had short, brown hair and kind green eyes. He smiled down at the two of them.

"Nah, it's fine Makoto, I've got this." Rin said, looking up at the man above them with a grin. The other employee, Makoto, eyed Rin with a knowing smile.

"Okay, I'll be in the back if you need me" he said, glancing at Haru before jogging back the way he came.

Haru sat stunned for a few seconds, before continuing to pick up the cans. By this point, there weren't too many left. Rin joined him, and Haru felt those red eyes on him more than once as they worked. He begun to twitch under the man's penetrating stare, feeling it boring into him as he worked. He ignored it as best as he could, though, and hurriedly finished cleaning up. As the last can was placed in its spot on the display, Rin stood up.

"There we go." He said, looking pleased. Haru looked up and smiled weakly, before Rin thrust out a hand to help him up. Haru hesitated, before begrudgingly taking Rin's hand.

Rin pulled hard, sending Haru up and stumbling forward. Haru looked at Rin with wide eyes as he tried to regain his balance.

"Don't go knocking anymore things over!" Rin joked, sniggering as Haru barely stopped himself from colliding with more packaged foods. Haru contorted his face back into his signature, blasé look. He glared at Rin before heading over to his cart, which had been pushed over to the side so as not to block the aisle.

"Thank you for helping me." Haru said, coldly and curtly. Rin looked at him, bewilderment apparent in his features.

"Dude, I'm sorry if I annoyed you." Haru fought his emotions. He wanted to say it was fine, he wanted an excuse to talk more to this intriguing figure, but he also wanted to take the easy way out. The coward's way. The one he'd been taking for years as he watched every opportunity he'd been given pass him by.

"It's fine." He said, pausing to look at Rin's reaction to his emotionless words. He saw Rin's face fall, just a little, but it definitely happened. For a second, Haru felt bad again. He dismissed the thought, once more, before sliding a hand into his pocket for his shopping list.

"Here." Rin said, thrusting the crumpled list at his chest. Haru quickly snatched the list, taking his time to examine Rin's face once again. He saw a cold look, not so distant from his own. For some reason, this hit Haru harder than the dejected Rin before had. He understood how much it sucked to guard your emotions like that, he wouldn't wish it on anyone. And to think, now he'd made Rin resort to this.

Haru felt his resolve crack, but he didn't know quite what to do about it. What could he say? They weren't close enough for Haru to hug him or anything, what could he do? Rin made eye contact and they stared at each other for a few brief moments that, to Haru, felt like years. Haru felt his face soften, and he turned the corners of his mouth up for a small smile. 

"Sorry." Haru whispered, before turning on his heel and speeding away, just remembering to grab his cart, which he maneuvered determinedly, and as quickly as he could. 

He didn't look back, but Haru knew all too well Rin was watching him as he made his somewhat shameful escape.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'd love to hear your feedback on the first chapter!! ik it's short, but we're just getting started!! ≧◡≦ don't hesitate to leave me a comment! ~ juno !


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Haru is forced into another awkward (and Rin related) situation, can he keep clear-headed, or will his solemn disposition fade away?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hurrah for chapter two! hope you like it!

Haru strategically avoided the supermarket at which he met Rin for exactly 2 weeks (but who's counting?). He was finally about to be at his limit, though, in desperate need of groceries, and not just the kind you can pick up at the convenience store (which Haru had found himself frequenting recently, in his desperation). He couldn't seem to push the Rin's name out of thoughts. As he lay in bed one night, he closed his eyes, picturing the sparkling, red eyes and happy, laughing smirk Rin had shown him. He imagined running his fingers through the his purple-red hair, and caressing that sharp jawline. He couldn't stop wondering if Rin was interested in him, and if they could've been friends at the least. 

He also couldn't stop the rumbling of his stomach as he scoured his barren pantry, looking for something that wasn't gross and didn't require additional ingredients, which he certainly did not have. He knew deep down the day had come, and the time had to be now.

He had to go to back to the supermarket.

Haru sighed, he really didn't wanna run into Rin again, but part of him hoped desperately he would. A knot settled in the pit of his empty stomach, and Haru felt both fear and excitement bubbling up inside of him. He pulled on a hoodie, grabbed his keys and headed out the door. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't stop himself checking the mirror on his way out, fussing over his hair for a few moments, and picking a few lint balls from the shoulders of his dark blue hoodie. "Just in case I do see him," Haru reasoned with himself, "I can't look like a _total_ slob." He took a deep breath before sighing heavily as he continued on his way.

It was only a quick drive to the supermarket, but to Haru the journey felt insanely slow, but also over all to quickly. He drummed his fingers on  the steering wheel nervously as he turned into the store's parking lot. He would've been content just driving forever, never reaching his destination and never even getting food to ease his hunger pains. Heavy rainclouds hung ominously in a grey sky, making Haru wish he'd brought his umbrella. He entered the supermarket, immediately bathed in the bright, fluorescent light. He grabbed a cart and methodically made his way down the aisles, grabbing only what he needed, making double sure not to run into any more displays. A couple of times he found himself searching the store with his eyes, looking for that head of maroon hair. He quickly stopped himself. "What am I even doing, I don't want to see him!' he mumbled, turning a corner carefully. 

***

Rin was annoyed. Annoyed he'd met a cute boy at work that day, only to make a mess of it. He wasn't sure exactly what he'd hoped would happen, but he knew it wasn't that. He'd tried to forget about the incident, tried to think of something else, but to no avail. Everyday after that, he secretly hoped to see Haru in the store once again. Though he felt as though the brief, but poignant encounter had left no opportunity for further interaction, he couldn't make himself give up on the feelings that quickly grew for the nameless, clumsy customer.

2 weeks later, Rin was in the back of the store, unpacking bulk stock to prepare it for the shelves. He hummed quietly as he worked, bored of the menial task in front of him. Makoto entered the room, and was greeted with a wave and a smile from Rin. Normally empathetic and overly kind, Makoto's eyes now glinted mischievously, his face clearly suppressing a shit-eating grin. He stood across from Rin and busied himself, waiting for his coworker to catch on.

Rin immediately noticed Makoto had something to say, and intentionally denied him the satisfaction of saying it.

Turning up his nose, he continued to work as if Makoto wasn't even there. Sneaking glances at Makoto, Rin almost broke his facade and laughed as he watched his friend dishearten at his lack of interest and obliviousness. Just as Makoto opened his mouth to speak, Rin let him win. "What'd you have to say?" He said, voice montone, completing the performance with a flawless eyeroll. Makoto instantly brightened, and Rin sniggered watching him. 

"Your boyfriend's hereee!" Makoto sung, breaking into a grin though he knew he was in for it. Rin raised one eyebrow skeptically. "Oh yeah, and who might that be?" His heart had begun to beat a little faster, pretty sure he knew who it was. "Black hair, blue eyes, a little on the.. clumsy side." Rin began to blush, and Makoto smiled gently. "You do like him, right?" Rin blushed even more, feeling the heat spread across his face. Resting a hand on the back of his neck, he feebly nodded. "He seemed nice. You should go for it, Rin." Rin shifted uncomfortably. "It's just a stupid crush." He mumbled.

"He's in aisle 7." Makoto said, motioning with his head to the door. "You should go say hi." Rin gulped and headed shakily over to the door. Makoto, sensing Rin's nervousness, tried to reassure his friend. "Just talk to him! Quick before he leaves! I think he likes you too!"

Rin made his way through the store, wondering if he should really be doing this while he's working. He looked around for his supervisor, but couldn't see her anywhere. "Well, Makoto seemed to think it'd be alright, at least." He thought. Rin stood in aisle 6 and, after checking there was no other customers around to watch him, peered around the corner. Sure enough, there he was. Rin felt kinda creepy, staring at the man from afar like that, but he just wasn't ready to actually talk to him yet, and wasn't sure he ever would be. Just as he was about to head back, feeling sick to his stomach, the man looked up.

***

Haru had been in the store for a while now, and there was still no sign of Rin. He felt relieved, but also undeniably disappointed. "Oh well." He shrugged, though the feelings ran deeper than that.

He was working to finish up the last of his shopping when he felt a pair of eyes on him, and noticed a familiar shock of brightly colored hair from the corner of his eye. If he wasn't so nervous, and kinda shocked, he would've smiled. Instead Haru looked up, eyes wide. As their eyes locked, Haru watched blush brush the cheeks of the supermarket employee. He noticed Rin looked nervous and a tad mortified, being caught staring at a customer from around a corner. At that, Haru smiled discreetly. He took a deep breath and walked up to Rin.

"H-Hi" Haru mumbled, stumbling over his words as his eyes met the floor. Rin and Haru were now standing across from each other, though Haru left a considerable gap between them, no matter how much he wanted to do otherwise. Rin rubbed the back of his neck with his left hand, copying Haru's actions as his gaze made its way to their feet. "Fancy seeing you here again." Rin said with a nervous laugh, trying his hardest to feign a cool and collected composure as he dropped his arm from his neck and lifted his eyes to Haru's face. "What's.. Um.. What's your name?" Rin said hesitantly, before adding "I'm Rin." and holding out a hand for Haru to shake. "Haruka." Haru said, gripping Rin's outstretched hand with equal hesitation. Though this wasn't the first time their hands had touched, it was the first time Haru was painfully aware of the contact, feeling his sweaty hand loosely shake Rin's cool one, his long, feminine fingers wrap around the other's open hand. "But, you can call me Haru," he found himself adding as an afterthought. "Most people do."

"Haru." Rin said, smiling. He let the name sit on the tip of his tongue, taking delight in it. "Nice to meet you! Oh! Umm.. Can I help you with anything?" Rin blurted, remembering their relationship as customer and worker as he spotted Haru's abandoned cart. Haru smiled, it was small, but visible, for once. This only caused Rin to adopt a puzzled expression, which, Haru secretly thought was incredibly cute. Haru felt confidence flood his system, and found himself taking a step closer to Rin after it was too late to turn back. Putting on his signature pokerface, Haru asked before he could stop himself. "Actually, would you like to go out sometime?" His eyes flitted around the room as he awaited Rin's reply, looking at everything but the man in front of him.

Rin flushed a deep red, shocked and burning up in front of Haru's eyes. Haru began to blush too, maybe even more than Rin, if that was possible. He felt his confidence quickly waning, and began to feel sick as he realised the weight of what he'd said. Not only did Haru barely know this guy, but this was so unlike him. And he was scared by that. Haru never pursued anything in his life, certainly not boys! He also never initiated relationships, of any kind (which is mostly why he was pretty much friendless). 

 _"Fuck, fuck fuck!"_ Haru thought, anger at himself quickly replacing the fear felt only moments before. His fists clenched and unclenched in his pockets as his mind raced.

_"What've I done?"_

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooooh what will Rin say?? please don't hate me omg! haha, i hope this was good, there were a few parts i was unsure about! thanks to everyone reading, commenting and leaving kudos!! ILY! 
> 
> what do u think abt Rin's friendship with Makoto?? Though this is an au, i felt weird adding it, cos it's so NOT canon, but i think it works o.k. let me know! :3
> 
>  u can follow me on tumblr- purebredplanets.tumblr.com
> 
> P.S- is anyone else a super big fan of junjou romantica?? lol! THE NEW SEASON IS KILLING ME!! AHH! so good! i love how misaki is actively seeking out affection from usagi now! he's grow so much :') aha. sorry for this..


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin grapples to answer Haru.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry this took me so long! Hope you enjoy! Please, tell me if it's crap lmao.

Rin blushed at the awkward silence that followed Haru's question and began to silently panic. 

Rin was not ready for this. To him, it had been all fun and games pining for Haru, maybe even wishing for this moment, but facing the real deal scared him. He really wanted this, but he felt unprepared and slightly taken aback by the whole situation. Rin didn't _do_ relationships. He used to, but that was another matter- a story for another time. He knew he should seize this opportunity, this wonderful coincidence that the guy he liked not only liked him back but wanted to date him, to hang out with him, and get to know him, but he felt like he couldn't right now. This was something Rin needed to mentally prepare himself for, to work his way up to, and he felt unbelievably overwhelmed. He was scared of allowing himself to believe Haru had pure intentions, that they both wanted something sweet and beautiful.

Rin began to really freak out, his breathing becoming laboured, the air around him feeling suffocating and heavy. He watched Haru wilt, clearly disappointed by Rin's failure to answer the question.

"I'm sorry, that- that was stupid, you know what, never mind." Haru said, feeling rejected and beaten down, clearly fighting back tears of embarrassment and disappointment. He swiped at his eyes quickly and clumsily with the sleeve of his sweatshirt, before turing to leave. 

 _"I can't breathe. Shit, shit, shit. I can't do this, I can't date him, I can't do this- fuck.."_   Rin's hands shook as he unintentionally worked himself into a frenzy. He desperately didn't want Haru to leave, though. While he wasn't ready for a relationship and apprehensive about going out on a real date, he very much liked Haru from the few brief interactions they'd had, and couldn't stand to let this opportunity pass him by. "H-hold on." He whispered, face having changed from the bright red blush to a pale, sickly white. Haru turned slowly and finally looked Rin in the eyes. It then occurred to him that Rin didn't look all too well."Are you okay?" He asked, straight-faced, but eyes betraying the hint of worry he felt deep inside. "I don't know, I will be just gimme a sec." Rin said, closing his eyes and trying to focus on his breathing. _"1.. 2.. 3.. 4.. 5"_ He counted in his head as he inhaled, repeating the process as he emptied his lungs, too.

 

Haru watched all this curiously, noticing how serene Rin looked, clearly trying to calm himself. Eyes closed, hair disheveled and hanging in his face, the way he hugged himself, arms wrapped around his muscular torso. At peace yet still so vulnerable looking. The confident guise he'd upheld from their last encounter had faded away, bringing to light a new side of Rin Haru never even knew existed. He'd built Rin up in his mind so much based on the initial perceptions he'd made that Rin had become a sort of 2D character in Haru's mind. It was silly, but he only now realised how inaccurate that one-sided caricature of Rin really was. He found it wild that he really did know so little about the guy he'd just asked out, but somehow didn't feel deterred, only longing to learn more.

Haru's eyes strayed to Rin's lips- pink and chapped. He had to resist the urge to walk up and kiss them. He wanted to so badly. 

It took several minutes, but eventually Rin had calmed himself down enough to continue his conversation with Haru. "I'm sorry," Rin began. Haru tensed up, not entirely sure whether Rin was apologising for the incident he just had, or about to reject Haru once and for all. He hoped voraciously it was the former. "It's fine." He mumbled. Then, remembering Rin's current fragile state added "Er- is there anything I can do to help? If you're feeling sick I could get a manager or.." Haru trailed off, not really sure if he'd suggested anything useful. "It's okay.. I'm good now." Rin responded, flashing a weak smile. "My shift ends early today actually, so I only have like, another 30 minutes." Rin rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, as he blushed again under Haru's unreadable gaze. "So.." Rin broke off. "About before.." Rin inhaled deeply. Haru was frozen at this point, 99% sure he was doing a good job of masking the hopeful feeling that he found rising in his heart.

 

 

"I-" Rin stopped suddenly. He wanted to accept Haru's offer so badly but he just couldn't. He was too scared and anxious, didn't want to lose control of his emotions, or become dependent on anyone. Sure he depended on his sister, Gou, and occasionally even Makoto or Momo, but he knew them relatively well (especially his sister), and had grown to trust them. They were the only exceptions. Rin felt like crying as he tried to spit out the words. He knew he couldn't take Haru up on his offer. He wanted to yell and scream at himself, tell himself to get over it, to accept, to let himself try this, but he felt defeated and resigned.

 

 

Haru's heart dropped once again, the second he hear Rin falter. He knew that was it. Though Rin hadn't actually said it yet, it was all over for Haru. He felt sick to his stomach as Rin tried in vain to articulate his thoughts. It was as all Haru could do to stop himself rolling his eyes, though Rin's horrid failure was almost pitiful, really.

Rin, in an effort to just alleviate the intense awkwardness and end his suffering threw out the first words that popped into his deft mind. "I can't."

Haru clicked his tongue in dismay and looked to the side at the rows of dry goods around them, then the floor. He made no effort to cover the fact he was hurt and annoyed. "Okay." Haru said coldly. He knew he was being childish by getting upset over it, but he'd got his hopes up, only to gave them come crashing back down again. And besides, Rin's rejection really hurt. _"Guess I can't read signals, huh?"_ He thought bitterly. 

"Haru." Rin said strongly, with a newfound vigour and confidence. Haru looked up to meet his gaze. Rin took a deep breath. "I-would-like-to-get-to-know-you-but-I-can't-go-out-with-you-I'm-really-sorry-would-you-like-my-number-maybe?" Rin said, his words slurring together as he spoke all in one breath. A proud, bashful smile flashed across his still pale face as he finally provided Haru with an adequate answer. Rin let out a sigh, relief washing over him. Haru took a minute to process Rin's words, finally having his turn to be confused and silent, as Rin watched him, awaiting his reply.

 

Haru couldn't help wondering why Rin said he couldn't go out. _"Is he in a relationship already?" "Is he just not attracted to me?"_ Haru didn't know the first thing about being in a relationship, honestly, so he wasn't so sure if this was a good response or not, but he quickly realised it didn't matter. Regardless, Haru couldn't change Rin's feelings if Rin just didn't like him, and he also couldn't deny that he wanted to get to know Rin better too, so while he found Rin's response equal parts overwhelming and cryptic, he just couldn't say no, nor did he want to.

Rin and Haru exchanged contact details, both feeling light and happy, the awkwardness and tension finally alleviated, before Rin, having spent far too long not working, was finally caught and whisked away by his manager who, safe to say, wasn't the happiest. Haru finished gathering his groceries quickly and breezed through the checkout line and out of the store, eager to get home. While he was surprisingly optimistic about his interactions with Rin that day, he was beyond ready sink into a hot bath back at home and unwind, having socially reached his capacity that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been really doubting my writing recently, lol, on top of just getting ready to go back to school :(( so this took me quite a while. As always i'd love to hear from you guys in the comments! Idk if I'll be able to update too much in the first few wks of the school year, but it shouldn't be too bad!
> 
> tumblr- purebredplanets.tumblr.com 
> 
> ^-^


End file.
